[Mudfun]

hello from NJ. I've been riding for over 35 years now, and with a 15 y/o, I thought we buy a nice toy for him. We found a nice working damn near original 1978 FL250 Odyssey. We went to Mass to pick it up. Ran it around the yard and up on the trailer. One the way home in one of those NASTY snowstorms, we had to stop every 50 miles or so and knock off the ice.
I prepped it for storage and it spent the long winter in a portable garage dry an out of the elements.It needed major cosmetic work....new cage....fenders...seat was literally duct ape wrapped around the frame. But it ran.
Now I've re-assembled it with a new lined gas tank, professionally shop re built carb and all new wiring and switches. The PO put new switches in and left all the old wiring there, leaving me with a snake nest behind the seat.
The pull starter and bottom off the flywheel housing showed evidence of water infiltration because there was a dent in the flange of the pull starter letting in water. The flywheel needed to be scotch brited but the stator and coils were not damaged that I could see.
Everything rings out on the meter fine, and the ignition coil rings right on the money But I get no spark. All the wiring is correct, and everything I've read about to check, checks out. Flywheel key...EVERYTHNG.
What am I missing?

 

[Morph0906]

You will need to check your ground connections and pick up gap also verify the spark plug cap is screwed into the wire all the way. Where in jersey are you?

 

[Mudfun]

I have a feeling its something real easy but I just don't see it.One way or another, it'll work out. I just hope I dont run out of time before school takes over my sons time.
Im right outside Morristown.We ride in the Pine Barrens. I also have a complete stock 87 XR200R. All except I put Led headlights on it. Riding at night in the Pines is freaky.

 

[Mudfun]

Now I'm Begging for help. If you look at this diagram, buy eliminating the lighting circuit, your left grounding out the kill switch. And by doing that, your completing a circuit where the kill switch does NOTHING. Neither breaking the circuit or grounding it out. This has GOT to be wrong. WTF am I missing. The manual says to be sure you have continuity between the black and yellow coming from the crankcase. Buy eliminating the lighting circuit, what do you do with the yellow wire???? I feel this is part of my issue.
I even went out and bought a new ignition coil, because even it the ohms ring correct, that doesn't mean its working......same problem
This thing ran right up until I pulled it in the work area in February, so i really don't think its inside the crankcase. Maybe if i got it running, I could see it running like crap until I adjusted the points and timing, ect.....but I cant even get the friggin spark.
I don't have a lot of $ into this, because when I got it, it was all cosmetic work, and stuff like that is cheap. even the carb rebuild and tank lining was not a lot of money. But I'm about ready to give up here.......
I'm at a complete loss!!

 

[bansheekx]

By looking at the diagram it looks like it should run with just the black wire going to the coil and points. The kill switch just completes the circuit to ground so you need to make sure there is no continuity between the terminals of the switch when it is in the run position. Have you checked the points to make sure they are not corroded?

 

[Mudfun]

points are fine. I'm having a problem with them though. The manual says to "turn the engine and see that he points open and close". ( a prelude to setting the timing) unless you can see through the solid metal flywheel, i cannot tell if the operate at all. The flywheel has two long slots in it, but mostly , you cant see shit.

 

[Mudfun]

Hello again. It's been a long while since I've been here, mostly because my computer imploded last year, and I lost everything. The Oddy is up and running, and basically HAS been running fine this year, up until now.
Last fall on our final ride, about 1/2 way through the weekend the coil stopped working. When I got home, a quick continuity check proved that. Last month, I got another new Honda coil, figuring the extra cost would ensure the best. Sure enough, a nice bright spark! I Ran it for a while, then turned it off, and put it back in the nice warm garage.
Fast forward to Christmas day. It was 70 degrees today, so my son and I wanted to take it out one last time. Did a quick visual check, everything was good. Just for the heck of it, figured I would start it in the driveway, let it warm up.
Ta-Da....back where we were last time....no spark, no continuity where I need it. Long short....dead coil...AGAIN.
WTF?...this one only ran for about 10 seconds after I installed it.
Any Ideas?

 

[Morph0906]

bad regulator / rectifier or a ground that is corroded,trace your wires see if there is any bulges inside the insulation i had a wire that mysteriously corroded to the point that i was having a issue similar to your on a different bike… electrical issues can be a nightmare

 

[Larry's Shee]

As mentioned, check ALL wireing from end to end. Check wire diagram to see if ign power runs thru volt regulator.

 

[Mudfun]

Its that time of year, and I'm back to the same friggin problem. Packed it in over the winter, and now I'm at it again, trying to get a spark.
As posted before, this is a brand new Honda coil, not cheap. I figured I'd have less of a chance for a bad part.
This is what I have come up with as of today.
Given the fact that this coil did work flawlessly when I put in in around October, just running the engine for a few minutes, I decided to check all the wires. I ended up replacing the entire harness, front to back. Even got new switches. The result....no spark.
Now I attacked the coil with my meter. The manual says to check for continuity between the spark plug wire and the primary coil wire,, between the primary coil wire and ground, and between the plug wire and ground.
I only get continuity between the primary wire and ground. NOTHING when the plug wire is in the mix. Odd thing, I get no continuity ANYWHERE on the plug wire......from the cap to ground.....cap removed and from the end of the wire to ground.....even nothing through just the cap it self!
In short...every test the manual has to determine the coil is bad says it is...but its frigging brand new!....WTF am I missing!!!!
Is there a better aftermarket coil to try? Can a factory coil be so defective to have THAT many open circuits???
This has been going on since last August!
Help me someone....

 

[Morph0906]

cdi? maybe???

 

[bansheekx]

Most plug wires have resistance built into them to prevent radio interference. The resistance is most likely too high to register continuity on your multi meter. Have you checked the points to make sure that they have not corroded over the winter? Is the condenser new?

 

[Mudfun]

Everything is new.
The resistance on the plug wire is right in the middle of the spectrum...10.5K Ohms.
I'm getting good continuity through the points, over and over as i pull the cord, so I doubt its inside. I do have one real dumb question:
Am I correct in that you GROUND out the system to kill the motor? I'm wondering right now if, when I replaced the switches last fall, I merely wired the switch wrong. On start up, are the switch contacts supposed to be open or closed?

 

[bansheekx]

The switch should have an open connection when in the run position. The current will always take the shortest / easiest path to ground so if you have continuity through your switch when in the run position it is grounding the ignition causing a no run situation.

 

[Mudfun]

I'm going to check it first thing. I just realized that I never got it running since I changed the switch. I always assumed the switch was installed correctly, because its so simple, and I do this stuff for a living.
If that's the case, I feel like an idiot.
But you guys always have the answer, I've got a lot of help by just reading the posts. I was able to rebuilt the whole top end by just what I read here, and I've never done that in the 30 years I've been riding.

 

[Morph0906]

good luck and let us know how you make out

 

[Mudfun]

I'm done with this. It seemed like a fun idea at one time, but its to the point that even when I DO get a spark, I'm afraid to even take it out.
I've replaced every part in the entire ignition system, and best I can get is a SINGLE spark, ONE time, then nothing.....
I'll post pics in the for sale section as soon as I'm no so pissed off that I take a pipe to this thing.